For those of you who bought Premium planes, do you like them or no? Really, I'm just looking for personal opinions for each. It may be helpful for the curious, as well.

I have:

Me 209V - I talked myself into buying this as it looks so cool. I'm not very good with it. I'm almost always matched up against Tier 6, and a lot of those fighters are just as fast as me (which was this planes only real grace). Overall, wish I hadn't bought it. Then again, it is nice to look at in the hangar.

iL-2 (modified) - I love this plane. It's right at my favorite Tier, and it has a rear gunner (who has killed multiple planes already). Sure, it's frontal firepower isn't quite as good as the regular iL, but that rear gunner has saved my bacon several times. I happily recommend this plane to everyone interested in a mid-Tier ground attack.

I don't think i can count as technically buying any premium planes... however i own the 224, 81-A, Ki-88 & XP-50, along with a few others...

The 224 is brilliant... it's basically just a premium version of the 133, which is a great plane in itself... so there's no complaints there...

The 81-A is fun to fly, you just run her like a normal P-40 and use your energy advantage against the other t4's in the game... Great fun, and you always get a good game out of her...

The Ki-88 is certainly special... it really needs to be flown in a flight with close support... on it's own it's near useless, however if there's something helping to cover it's tail, it's a true killer, and the 37mm derp cannon is always fun!

The XP-50 is a similar story... great for BnZ, but it can't really hold it's own quite as easily as the other t6 heavies... But still not too bad :P

The 209V needs to be flown in a similar manner to that of the 190V... long shallow BnZ dives in and out of combat and it will make you very hard to catch :)... I've never flown it, however i've seen what works with it and what doesn't :P

in hangar right now I have the 209v and the xp50..the 209 is pretty much a speed demon in tier but once out of tier it really suffers. Oh yeah...guns are crapola. You can shoot and shoot and do very little damage.

The xp50 is ....ummmm...well I haven't really deceided. I played 15 battles with it before a win...most of them flameing to the ground. I finally got to watch someone in spectator mode who could fly it and got the idea of how to fly it. Since then I think I have a better understanding of the plane and how to fly it.

Had the xf4f and was pretty pleased with it. Fun plane in tier.

Had the 110 c6 and had a good time with it too.

In general I think they are pretty fun planes...but are far lacking compared to their conterparts in the line.

Yeah there's too much variety to group all the premiums together. I'm a bit of a completionist so I have ended up getting most of them.

A couple of standouts for me are:

Mustang I: It's flight characteristics are sort of like a poor man's P-51A, but it's got excellent close range firepower. It's a combo I like so far, though I haven't played a lot of matches in it.

P-39Q-15: This is like the XFL-1 (as you would expect) but with much better flight characteristics. So far this is shaping up to be my favourite premium in the game as it suits my derp and turn playstyle.

P-40 M-105: This plane is strange and the guns overheat too fast, but for some reason I find that it works well and that I have some good success in it. It hits hard and flies fairly well.

I'll also echo that the 224 is a great plane at its tier, the only real problem it has is that it's so big that it can become an easy target.

The XF4F-3 and XF4U-1 are also good planes, but they aren't significantly different from the normal tech tree versions other than being available a tier earlier and having lighter armour and tuned down performance.

I own the LBSh and its an amazing GA plane. If you need to you can dogfight in it as well. I would recommend it to anyone who wanted a premium GA. I'm about to buy the IL-2 mod myself so I can't comment on that but in my opinion the LBSh is the best premium GA.

"It is generally inadvisable to eject directly over the area you just bombed."
"The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire."
The three most common expressions (or famous last words) in aviation are: "Why is it doing that?", "Where are we?" And "Oh S...!"
"Airspeed, altitude and brains. Two are always needed to successfully complete the flight."
Flying isn't dangerous. Crashing is what's dangerous.

LBSh and IL-2(Mod) Make fistfuls of credits. M.20 Fills baskets full of credits. The rest all are fun make good credits and are a change of pace. I have almost all of them only the PayPal release stuff is out of reach due to technical problems with my PayPal Account. I had the 225 in Beta it was nice but too big a target.

I've bought an LBSh and a 110 C-6...either do not disappoint. But for some reason I find myself shooting more planes than targets whenever I fly my LBSh.

The XP-50 and Ki-88? They do not agree with me because of their high altitude nature and I don't take to them well. The Ki-88, however, is the only way to keep a Japanese pilot busy if you don't have Ki-33 the t-shirt plane...and I cannot complain about that. Premium planes, IMO, serve to keep the high tier crews busy while the queue there is completely empty.

WoWP makes a great jousting game...especially with the 262 and people busy in furballs...
I am deaf, silent, and fly with unrealistic controls. Do not count on me to carry - my back's already broken from overweight.

Grumman XP-50 - The XP-50 is the Chance-Vought XF4U-1 of heavies low fire power in exchange for unmatched agility in class it's fast, it climbs, and it can out turn anything in class it plays like a FW-190 that can climb your fast and have great energy retainment.

Firepower - C+

Altitude performance - B

Agility(turn and roll ability) - A

Speed - A

Overall - B+

Very nice plane.

Kawasaki Ki-88 Not your typical Japanese fighter in fact not like any other Japanese plane it has poor agility and large derpy cannons I'm not going to lie I love the plane but it's not for everyone it takes a lot of work to fly effectively you have to be a expert on managing energy and gun heat but when it works it can one shot 4-5 planes in a row.

Firepower - B+

Altitude performance - C+

Agility(turn and roll ability) - D

Speed - C

Overall - C+

A fun plane if you like the randomness of big cannons.

Bell P-39Q-15 Airacobra - This plane is really starting to grow on me once again your main weapon is a nose mounted 37mm derp but instead of 20mm's on the wings you get 12.7mm MG's and more agility well the Ki-88 only really pares with German planes in turning the Airacobra is solidly in the middle due in part to being lighter none the less you'll want to stay with the group cause things can out turn you but the mix of the one hit shot power of the 37mm and the MG's for burning light fighters is great.

Firepower - B

Altitude performance - C

Agility(turn and roll ability) - C+

Speed - B

Overall - B-

It's a lovely balance of firepower and agility main draw back is it's average to low Altitude Performance keeping it from chasing a heavy which although the Ki-88 "can" be higher up it's climb sucks so over all more people will like the Airacobra I think if they want 37mm derp.

As for others I have.

Chance-Vought XF4U-1as I pointed out above this plane has little in the way of firepower a few MG's and that's it even the F4F outguns this plane but what it lacks in firepower it makes up in every other aspect it is a F4U without the guns as such it's lighter and slightly more maneuverable even then the stock F4U(thought the bigger engine on it wins in speed) so you get a Tier 6 plane with tier 4 guns at tier 5.

Firepower - D

Altitude performance - B

Agility(turn and roll ability) - B

Speed - A

Overall - B

You take awhile to kill a plane but at the same time nothing can really lose you not even most heavies this plane basically dances.

Bf.110C-6 arguably one of the most powerful premiums in tier this plane is a beast well you won't match other heavies in climb and turning(and thus nothing but GA's) nothing and I mean nothing in tier matches it's raw punch not only is the firepower amazing but anything over a 30mm has a chance to break off wings and tail one shooting a plane thus the 30mm often will kill zeros and light planes on the first hit this is a truly fearsome plane as you are often dead before you see the tracers.

Firepower - A+

Altitude performance - B

Agility(turn and roll ability) - D+

Speed - B+

Overall - A-

When played like a heavy with boom and zoom be ready to get accused of hacking a lot.

Ilyushin IL-2 (mod)this is basically a IL-2 with worse guns but the addition of a tail gunner well that may seem like not a big deal and the gunner is not the greatest a GA will ever get the plane is solid enough in it's roll and the tail gunner is more then able to keep light fights from hanging out back their which often means you live much longer then you would in a IL-2 when in higher tier fights you will have to use rockets to kill GT's in one pass but it's still a good plane.

For a GA

Firepower - C+

Altitude performance - C

Agility(turn and roll ability) - C+

Speed - C

Overall - B

Well nothing spectacular as a GA their is also little wrong with it and the rear gunner adds a much needed deterrent that does get kills now and then that' and the fact that it allows you to train your GA pilots and rear gunners better then any other option makes this one a useful plane and wins it the B overall.

I use the IL-2 (mod) setup (VYa-23 cannons) on the IL-2 and IL-2t. It works more reliably than the big cannons the normal IL-2 can in air to air and slice targets up relatively well if you pull the brakes and use incendiary. You also forget that the IL-2 (mod) gets weaker ordnances (50kg bombs and 82mm rockets; the same as a half upgraded normal IL-2)...

...in comparison, the LBSh is capable of 100kg bombs...which means more power to work with for both air bomb and ground bomb. While lacking rockets, it's not like it needs them.

WoWP makes a great jousting game...especially with the 262 and people busy in furballs...
I am deaf, silent, and fly with unrealistic controls. Do not count on me to carry - my back's already broken from overweight.

I love the LBSh, it's pretty versatile and once I've dropped bombs and team needs help it doesn't do bad as a type of heavy fighter....
The Me 209V on the other hand..... All I'm saying is, if it's meant to run gun then run again, it should do a consistent amount of damage.... But it feels you're just shooing BBs at the Enemy.... This thing definitely needs a damage buff to be relevant in any way...

Premium Planes By Wolfrum (Trademark Pending) I am going going to stick to the ones you can currently buy as a few options don't exist anymore.

XF4F-3 - This plane while lacking in firepower (sustainable at least) more than makes up for it by being decently agile, fast and maintaining good energy. I have ground more credits with this plane than any other premium and it is a favorite to take out. It flies good well beyond its altitude band and can hold its own against all but the most determined attacks. I also find that it is very durable, taking less module damage than other planes of its class. If there was ever a premium to buy, this is the one.

LSBh - While I am not a good ground pounder this plane has proven its ability to control both the skies and the GT's. I tend to use mine in an Anti-GAA Role to which it is well suited with good firepower and better agility than most other Attack Aircraft. If you like playing the Attack Aircraft line, then go for it. If you don't there are other planes out there worth the money.

Mustang 1 - This one is a little more tricky given that it does not perform as well as a P51A which doesn't say much since the 51A is a little bit more tricky to fly now. That being said it does have decent firepower, and if you are familiar with that flying style it will reward a good pilot. There are better cash earners out there, but this one should get some consideration.

XP-50 - I have to totally disagree with Shepbur's thoughts on this plane. While it lacks the substantial firepower that other Tier 6 heavies have, it makes up for it in being the most agile out of all of them. And, it thrives well beyond its altitude limitations. So much so that I think it is well and truly a heavy killer. If you know how to play HF's , and you aren't scared to climb, they use this and hunt the rest of them down. Its fast and agile and a complete nightmare to any pilot you lock onto. With the added bonus of being able to out turn a 190 :)

Ki-88 - If there was ever a support class of fighter, this is it. You cannot survive in a furball well on your own but if you join one in progress you can absolutely destroy everything via clearing peoples tails. THe added bonus is you can demolish all the GAA that come near you too. Its a very situational plane but very enjoyable.

Spitfire DB605 (i.e. Messerfire, or Messerspit) - This plane is just fun, it is very akin to the actual Tier 6 cannon armed Spitfire, with some German love under the hood. If you enjoy the spitfires playstyle, you will enjoy this plane very much. Its a favorite of mine for sure.

XF4U-1 - This plane is a vertical monster, great at gaining and maintaining altitude, use it to hunt Heavies, German Fighters and anything else that dares venture up that far. The guns overheat quick, and the firepower is lacking but if you have good trigger control you will find the plane very rewarding. It rolls nicely too, along with being very durable.

P39Q-15 Aircobra - Some people find this plane sluggish, or complain about it. Myself personally, I feel it is the most balanced Tier 6 Premium out there, and I am madly in love with it. It has a very nice cannon in the nose that rewards a patient pilot, it rolls well, had decent speed, and can maintain a better than average altitude. Its almost like the 146 at Tier 6 (another plane that I love). If you get close and time it right , the other plane won't be able to react in time before he is heading back to his hanger. This one above all others is worth it to me. Its a true Gem of Tier 6.

-Wolf

A veteran is someone who at some point wrote a cheque to their country that was 'up to and including my life'

Bf 110 C-6 This is literally the big gun of the premiums. When you fly it right it is an absolute beast, and a good moneymaker.

FW-56 This is a fun T2 fighter, not outstanding in any category, but still capable.

Me 209V This is the premium I'm closest to selling. The high speed combined with the weak guns makes it very hard to make any money with it. And if you get stuck with T6-7 its speed becomes useless.

P-39Q Airacobra A good all around fighter. The derp factor isn't bad either.

P40 M-105 Probably my least favorite premium. It's certainly not as good as the American version, but I have had some good games in it.

I-15bis Not a bad fighter in it's tier, and if you have a T4 trying to turn fight you it will surprise them.

IL-2mod A good workhorse and moneymaker. A solid GA.

LBSh This plane is very quickly becoming a favorite of mine. A good GA for its tier, it works as a low altitude heavy after you've dropped your bombs. I've surprised more than one Bf 110 with my ability to turn in it.

XP-50 This is a fun plane to fly, it climbs extremely quickly, handles red band altitudes well, and is much more agile than any other heavy it will go up against as well as some FW 190's. It's somewhat light armaments are still potent enough to bring down aircraft of its tier without undue effort.